3 key AI trends to watch in 2018

Many people find the words “Artificial Intelligence” a bit scary and intimidating. They conjure up images of the Stanley Kubrick classic 2001: A Space Odyssey or (worse) Stephen King’s Maximum Overdrive.

No doubt, any type of monumental change can be frightening. An entire generation feared the automobile because they thought it was too dangerous. Thousands of people today are still afraid to fly in an airplane. But as FDR put it so eloquently in his first inaugural address, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” This is certainly true when it comes to technology.

The advancements being made in AI are already changing the world. From simple email filters that make sure you never have to see a piece of SPAM to self-driving automotive and drone technology, AI is making our lives simpler and smarter. Here are 3 of the hottest Artificial Intelligence 2018 trends to watch.

Artificial Intelligence is speaking our language(s)

Nowhere is Artificial Intelligence making more inroads than in the areas of voice and language applications. Voice-controlled devices, such as Amazon’s Alexa and Google Home, are basically the next search engine.

Voice to translation services using AI capability will be able to bring the entire world together by recognizing a speaker’s native language and translating it automatically into the receiver’s native language. This makes us wonder if we’ll ever need to take another foreign language class.

Advancements in speech-to-text technology combined with AI have the potential to disrupt several white-collar jobs, including court reporting, legal processing, and even software development. Some of the best artificial intelligence software solutions are automating part or all of these jobs. This could lead to similar disruptions in the financial management, trading, and research industries.

Artificial Intelligence’s role in cybersecurity and defense

The next generation of wars will not be fought on any battlefield. They’ll be fought in cyberspace. Governments are building up their cybersecurity defenses with as much emphasis and attention (and in some cases, even more) as they put into their military defense.

Cyber criminals are already able to hold companies, hospitals, energy providers, and even entire governments hostage with ransomware and other types of attacks. Artificial Intelligence will play a much larger role as companies develop new solutions to protect online data and internal systems. In fact, startups that focus on AI and blockchain-based security solutions are skyrocketing in growth.

Look for more and more advancements in the area of cybersecurity this year and see how Artificial Intelligence will play an ever-increasing role in the development of solutions for both government and private sectors.

Artificial Intelligence’s role in bringing back (some) manufacturing jobs

People worry about robots taking humans’ jobs, especially in the area of manufacturing. Not too long ago, these same people were worried about automation and assembly lines taking the place of humans. What they found, however, was that people were still needed to oversee and work the assembly lines. The same is true with robotics.

Artificial Intelligence could be responsible for bringing more manufacturing jobs back to areas that need it the most. But these jobs won’t look quite the same as before. There will be a need for skilled workers for maintenance and operation of a new robotic work force.

And while there certainly won’t be as many jobs available as there were in the manufacturing heyday, knowing that robots are not completely replacing humans in the workplace should give a lot of people a certain degree of relief.

Whether it’s Artificial Intelligence in healthcare, finance, education, or any other industry, it’s pretty apparent that the “AI for everything” trend is here to stay. And since the only thing that stays the same is change, the best way to prepare for the future of Artificial Intelligence is to learn as much as possible about the technology and put yourself in a position of managing AI rather than being replaced by it.